Dermot (previously published in Black Static #24, ed. Andy Cox, 2011, and reprinted in The Best Horror Of The Year#4, ed. Ellen Datlow, 2012) Beneath The Sun (previously published in Acquainted With The Night, ed. Barbara and Christopher Roden, Ash-Tree Press, 2004) The Moraine (previously published in Terror Tales of the Lake District, ed. Paul Finch, Gray Friar Press, 2011, and reprinted in The Best Horror of the Year#4 ed. Ellen Datlow, 2012) Comfort Your Dead (unpublished) The School House (previously published in Houses On The Borderland, ed. Dave Sutton 2008, and collected in The Condemned, Gray Friar Press, 2013) Left Behind (previously published in Midnight Street #10, ed. Trevor Denyer, 2008) Hushabye (previously published in Inferno, ed. Ellen Datlow, Tor Books, 2005) A Small Cold Hand (previously published in At Ease With The Dead, ed. Barbara and Christopher Roden, Ash-Tree Press, 2007) The Proving Ground (previously published and collected in Pictures of the Dark, Gray Friar Press, 2009) Angels of the Silences (previously published as a chapbook by Pendragon Press, 2011; reissued by Omnium Gatherum Media, 2016) …And Dream Of Avalon (previously published and collected in A Hazy Shade Of Winter, Ash-Tree Press, 2004) Winter’s End (previously published in Where The Heart Is, ed. Gary Fry, Gray Friar Press, 2010) They Wait (previously published in Shadow Writers 2, ed. Paul Kane, 2003) The Children of Moloch (previously published in Death Rattles, ed. Gary Fry, Gray Friar Press 2011) And Cannot Come Again (unpublished)

Fifteen strange and supernatural stories—some frightening, some moving, all haunting—of innocence, experience, and the world that lies between.

"One of the most accomplished and eloquent British horror writers is Simon Bestwick, and here is a feast of his work." —Ramsey Campbell Funny, frightening and moving, the stories in Simon Bestwick’s new collection explore how our childhoods mark us, our regrets haunt us, and how our innocence is sometimes lost—and sometimes taken away. A young policewoman is drawn into a dreadful bargain. Murdered girls walk the streets of Manchester beside their still-living friends. Tormented children call on an urban legend for help, and the events of a long-ago summer and first love return with lethal consequences for four childhood friends. All this and more besides, in these fifteen short stories and novelettes from the author of The Faceless and The Feast of All Souls.

Simon Bestwick was born in Wolverhampton back in the '70s, but his family moved to Manchester when he was two and he lived in the area up until 2014, when he moved to Liverpool. In 2015 he moved to the Wirral with the author Cate Gardner, and in 2016 they got married. His school years were horrible. His college and University years were great. He graduated with a 2:1 degree in 1996 and realized what he wanted—needed—to do was write. A succession of dead-end and/or soul-killing jobs followed—office worker, fast food operative, WP operator, training administrator, call centre worker. Now, finally, he is self-employed and doing what he loves. So far he has published three novels, a chapbook, and four short story collections. Two new novels are forthcoming and he's working on others, not to mention a screenplay. He is represented by Tom Witcomb at the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.